Cheers and jeers

Saturday

Animal cruelty: Easton DeHart probably will not win any popularity contests among this area’s alligators.

He has spent decades trapping, killing and eating the scaly reptiles.

But what he has never done is torture a gator. So he found it deeply troubling when he recently found a small alligator in Bayou Blue that had survived without a tail.

The creature wasn’t born like that. Instead, it had a wound, now healed, showing that the tail had been cut off by something or, probably, someone, DeHart said.

"This was done by a two-legged animal. It was done intentionally," said DeHart, the nuisance alligator handler for Terrebonne Parish.

We can only hope that, somehow, the act was unintentional.

Along with the jeer for whoever removed the gator’s tail, we also award a hearty cheer to DeHart for taking the animal to a secluded spot and releasing it. We hope it survives.

Let construction begin: The Lafourche Parish Council this week went along with the parish Library Board and approved a contract to build a new library in Larose.

In the years that have passed since the board’s plan for new buildings and this project’s beginning, costs have risen.

So, when the board received the bids for the Larose library, they were all higher than the budget.

Although we still think the board should have concentrated on building three really nice libraries rather than countless smaller facilities, the board must follow through on its plan.

Because of this week’s actions, construction on the Larose branch of the library -- which will sit next to the Larose Civic Center -- should get off the ground this fall.

That is great news to the people of Larose and those throughout the parish who have seen the board’s building strategy languish for far too long.

Senseless crime: At least 22 vehicles were hit last Saturday night by vandals in Houma who shot out the windows with pellet guns.

In addition to the expense of replacing the glass, car owners faced the inconvenience of scheduling the repairs, getting their vehicles to the shop and having them vulnerable to thieves and the weather in the meantime.

We hope the police investigators working on this case will turn up the people responsible for these acts of vandalism and senseless destruction.

Houma Police and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office are continuing to collect the names of victims and information about the crimes.

We hope they are successful.

Speaking out for safety: If residents of Senator Circle in Houma are concerned for their safety, they should speak up and let their public officials know.

That’s exactly what a group of residents did this week at the monthly meeting of the Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority.

They complained that they don’t feel safe walking at night and that police patrols have decreased.

The board recently installed security cameras at Bayou Towers, the complex for the elderly and handicapped. Some members suggested doing the same at Senator Circle.

Combating the problem, as it does everywhere, will depend on a combination of law enforcement, community involvement and official dedication.

We hope that taking the problem to the board was the first step on that journey.

Editorials represent the opinion of The Courier and Daily Comet and not of any one individual. Questions or comments concerning editorials may be addressed to the Editor, P.O. Box 2717, Houma, LA 70361 or e-mail at: news@houmatoday.com.

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